Leaner than beef, buffalo (also referred to as Bison) is a healthy alternative to the common red meat. Buffalo contains more iron and more protein, and far less fat, calories, and cholesterol than salmon, pork, beef, or chicken (per 100 gram serving). In addition, buffaloe's are naturally resistant to disease and grow faster than domestic animals; they do not need all the antibiotics and growth hormones that are typically given to beef cattle.
So why are people not sinking their teeth into buffalo? That is because back in the late 1800's, millions of buffaloes were slaughtered and nearly became extinct. Today buffaloes are being farm raised on private ranches and the numbers are back up to 250 thousand. Still the exposure of buffalo is in the hands of large steakhouse chains, and roughneck ranchers. If you don’t live in a rural country area, chances are you grew up with good Ole ground beef and the only buffalo you may have seen was the prince, in Beauty and The Beast.
Nutrition is not the only reasons why I say you should eat buffalo. Buffalo meat is sweeter and richer than beef. Even though buffalo contains 70% less fat, they are similar in tenderness and flavor. Buffalo's are raised in grasslands and eat the natural grass; this ensures the flavor is far better and more natural than farm raised cattle.
So tonight when you ask the butcher for your first pound of ground buffalo, keep a few things in mind.
1. Buffalo cooks much faster than beef because of the lack of natural fat.
2. Buffaloes share the same muscle group as cattle. Simply use buffalo in any dish like you would with beef.
4. There is no “gamy flavor” with buffalo, so a buffaloes flavor can be lost if you use many spices.
5. Does anyone watch American Idol anymore?